Only three cities of Bihar would go smart, two less than the state government's wish.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi released the list of the number of smart cites - a total of 100 - in New Delhi on Thursday morning. Their selection would be done over the next few months through "City Challenge Competition".

The state government does not seem to be satisfied with the inclusion of only three cities from Bihar in the smart cities scheme. "Based on population, we had initially sent a proposal to the Centre to include five cities - Patna, Gaya, Bhagalpur, Muzaffarpur and Darbhanga - in the list of 100 smart cities. But they have finally given us only three. We are not satisfied with it but we would develop the towns in the state utilising our own resources if the Centre is not keen on it," said Awadhesh Prasad Kushwaha, the urban development and housing minister.

Kushwaha's predecessor, Samrat Chaudhary, had demanded 20 smart cities for Bihar during a national conclave of ministers and principal secretaries of the state urban development departments on smart cities held in September last year.

Three smart cities apart, a total of 27 towns in Bihar would be provided with urban development support under the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (Amrut) scheme, also launched by Modi on Thursday. Amrut's objective is to ensure basic civic infrastructure such as drinking water and sewerage, increasing green cover in cities by developing parks and augmenting public transport among others.

Following the launch of the smart cities scheme, each state would have to submit its recommendation. "All the states have been informed about their share in smart cities and Amrut towns. Now, they would submit nominations with the list of several cities evaluated under the city challenge competition. Based on it, the most eligible cities would be selected for getting converted into smart cities. The cities selected through the competition would get central assistance to the tune of Rs 100 crore per annum for five years," said a senior official in the state urban development and housing department present in the launch of the schemes in New Delhi.

According to the draft concept note on the smart cities released by the Union ministry of urban development last year, the approval to the selected smart cities would be given in two stages. First, the states/cities would submit an integrated smart city development plan, based on which they would be sanctioned an initial amount for preparing professional and comprehensive project reports.

The second stage would cover the development of the project reports, which will be appraised by the designated project management units and finally approved by an empowered committee.

Patna is the only city in the state fulfilling the condition of having an existing master plan or a proposed one for being selected as a smart city. (See graphic)

"We are getting master plans prepared for a number of towns in the state apart from Patna. Their development would be done in a planned manner in pursuance of the respective master plan," said minister Kushwaha.

The claim of the state government-level development of cities in Bihar does not seem much promising, considering the previous experiences. The urban development and housing department is already working on the execution of the city development plans (CDPs) of 28 cities, launched in 2011. They envisage the holistic development of the cities during the period of 2010-2030.

The CDPs have given the exact assessment of the current situation and the projected requirements of the cities in different segments, including water supply, drainage, sanitation, drainage, roads and transportation, in three phases - phase 1 (2011-16), phase-2 (2016-21) and phase 3 (2021-30). The progress in most such segments in almost all the 28 cities has been extremely sluggish.